Not yet learned to forget

Author: Luo Qingjie
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Ada, Alex, and Jeffery were close friends in university. Ada had loved both Alex and Jeffery in succession; but ever since Alex's death, Ada and Jeffery could not forget the past. Ada numbed herself with work, while Jeffery embarked on a four-year journey of wandering. Four years later, Jeffery returned, only to find Ada in love with an old colleague, Raymond, again, just like the time with his friend. Although Ada eventually returned to Jeffery's side, was their relationship free from storms from then on? In the office at dusk, the lights were unusually still on. Unusual, because people in this city lived very disciplined lives, with 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. being the norm. After graduating from university, Ada chose to stay here. Having grown up accustomed to Hong Kong's hustle and bustle, life here felt even more self-directed. However, the evolution of Hong Kong people was different from that of others on Earth. No matter where they were, people would still work tirelessly for their jobs.
"Ada, I'm off work now. You're still not leaving?" Angie was Ada's closest colleague, a typical Chinese woman who always left on time, returning home to tend to her husband and children.
"Off work? What time is it now?" Ada, still engrossed in her work, asked casually.
"You've long passed your probation period. Why work so hard?"
"It's different on a company level versus a client level!"
"Are your clients difficult?"
"I thought working at a marketing company would be interesting and not rigid, but dealing with clients turned out to be so hard!"
Every young woman just starting out often has such complaints.
"We're actually lucky. When you joined the industry, you were still new. In this city, there aren't many Chinese-owned marketing companies of our scale. Many Hong Kong people focus on starting advertising agencies, which are usually one-person operations with limited survival space. Fortunately, this province has developed rapidly recently, otherwise, we wouldn't have opened such a large branch here."
Angie wasn't just a senior colleague at work but also a mentor in matters of immigration.
"If you do this every week, you know? You're just as talkative as that Taiwanese client. Next time, it should be your turn to handle him!"
Although Angie was married and a mother of one, she was still well under thirty, not much older than Ada, making them particularly close.
Thankfully, having such a work partner who often chatted and laughed with Ada helped prevent her from being overwhelmed by her workaholic nature.
During their conversation, Ada's phone on her desk rang.
"I'm off now. Don't stay too late either." Ada smiled and bid farewell to Angie.
"Idiot, when will you finally go home?" The voice on the other end was May, Ada's long-time roommate. Her specialties were her sharp tongue and the nourishing old-style soups she made that kept Ada full of energy.
"What's wrong? What kind of soup did you make this time?"
"Just knowing that if I don't call you, you won't give me a call until nine o'clock at night! When will you finally be willing to come home for dinner?"
"May, I really don't know why I ever chose to live with you. These years haven't been enough to tire you of me!" Ada smiled as she battled with a proposal in her computer.
"Without me keeping a close eye on you, would your mom be comfortable leaving you here alone? How much longer before you come back?"
"I have to redo everything after the meeting this afternoon. I don't even know how long it will take!"
Girls love to be coddled, regardless of their age or whether they're strong women.
"Can't you do it tomorrow?"
"No, I'm taking the day off tomorrow."
"Ooh! Right, tomorrow is the tenth. Why didn't you remind me? I have to find someone to watch the shop for me to go with you!"
May always complained, blaming her poor memory or feeling left out.
"I don't know why you and Jeffery buried him so far away. Every year when I want to pay my respects, I have to drive for a whole day!"